Forests that Talk – How to Release Emotions During a Nature Walk – By Josh Schultz

“The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.” — John Muir.

Plants are sentient, living things. Our thoughts and feelings are energy, and are contagious; the earth can biologically absorb that energy. Therefore, many people, whether conscious of it or not, go out into the forests to release energy and heal themselves. Let’s look at some ways to enhance and support this practice.

The worst time/place to go hiking is generally toward the end of the summer on busy trails; this is because everyone has dumped so much energy into the forest that you really have to wait until there are a couple strong rainstorms before that energy gets cleared out. It just gets thick with it. One of the best times to go hiking is when it’s raining. Every new day you walk into a forest the energy will often be different.

I look at the trails as the dirtiest sections of the forest, since that is where all the people are dumping their energies. The less people on it generally the better. I usually smell the energy out there.

It’s uncanny how many of the same objects I repeatedly find in forests. I often find parts of the soles of people’s shoes, clothing tags, hair ties, and occasionally, t-shirts. People unconsciously leave these kinds of objects in the forest so that they can leave their energy out there and remotely heal themselves; it is a way to link themselves to the forest. I think the kind of objects are very symbolic.

The sole (pun on soul) of a person’s shoe is literally enmeshed with the energies of their first chakra; the tag of their shirts is a way of “tagging” their energy signature. I have seen very elaborate stone and wood art-like constructions in streams as well; these are more advanced forms of healing projects that people intentionally, or unconsciously, create in order to remotely heal themselves. Usually I destroy these when I come across them as it is a kind of permanent energetic pollution to a forest; sometimes I won’t destroy them when I see the person is going to throw a ton of anger at me or their healing project is protected by some nasty beings I’d rather not deal with.

Have you ever wondered why people etch their names into trees? It’s not just because they are vandals…the real reason is because they want to imprint their love (J+N) onto the energy of a very high vibrational object/being. They are attempting to use it as a way to set the energy of that union or relationship.

There are other ways to remotely heal yourself with the help of forests, without using such crude methods. For example, you can imagine a grounding cord going from your body to the forest you’d like to ground to. If you’re going to do something like carve your name into a tree, or leave your junk out there, then you might want to look at the karma it might involve; create a win-win agreement with the forests you like to meditate in.

Grounding Meditation from Afar

You can indeed visit forests remotely during meditation: There is an interesting concept that says once you have had an experience in a forest you can actually just change you space to re-match that experience at a later date – essentially healing yourself without traveling out of body to that forest at all – but simply by using your own past experience information. Different forests have different healing properties as well, so sitting on a rock in the middle of a stream might help you with your communication space and opening your throat chakra up, while other areas will help with other things.

When you’re out in nature you can communicate with the trees and plants. You can see pictures and get intuitive information from them. The whole experience becomes a grounding meditation. You can ask the plants and creatures for healings; that’s what I do – I ask the entire forest for what I want a healing on that day. Then I “match” the energy of the forest on the top of my head/crown chakra, because I enjoy doing that, though to some people that isn’t pleasant at all.

Different trees have different abilities and you can ask them about it – or just see a picture. Some trees don’t have any interest in helping people. Personally, I like to collect eucalyptus pods and rub them with my fingers while I’m driving or reading – they are a great way to stimulate your own natural healing energy. You can also smudge with eucalyptus leaves, but the energy is usually too over stimulating for me, and it burns too quickly.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and those forests are really stunning. I remember as a young child I learned that I could go out of body and into trees; it was amazing. I remember playing and I just stopped directly in front of this tree and stared at it. For about two seconds I felt filled with total and complete understanding of everything. Of course I was just a kid and I didn’t really know what the hell was going on so I just thought, “woah cool” and went back to playing. Later in college I became aware that I could consciously project my awareness out of my body into a tree. I was always very disturbed by people that said animals and plants do not have consciousness after that first experience though.

Now don’t get me wrong, not all forests are rainbows and happy faces. Some forests have some real nasty stuff out there. A lot of Indians were killed in the Santa Cruz forests and the energy out there, especially in Henry Cowell, generally isn’t that great. There are actually very visible and eerie looking faces in the charred redwoods there; it was funny because I took my girlfriend there once and she said, “this place is full of secrets.” And later that night I found a website by Santa Cruz enthusiast Sharon C. McGovern, who says:

“The local Ohlone tribe told tales of a sycamore grove off of what is now Highway
9, which housed a spider whose web would entangle only those with dark
secrets, and of a giant snake in the redwood forest that killed indiscriminately.”

She is talking about astral beings, not actual physical critters. Now if you have higher tools that stuff isn’t really a big deal, but I’d rather not hang out there myself. Although, those forests can be a good opportunity to destroy the pictures in your space that match those lower vibrations; so you can use it as a healing opportunity and to get neutrality. So what are some good forests in the San Francisco Bay Area?

Well Rancho San Antonio is great if you want a strong experience with your sixth chakra; it is crowded usually though. Alum Rock park is amazing if you’re looking for a healing from water; you can go and sit on a rock in the middle of a stream; only downside is that it smells bad because of the sulphur. Probably my favorite spot is Picchetti. Stevens Creek Reservoir trail is also very nice, but only in the wetter months. Muir woods is overall very nice and high, but there’s a lot of people usually, and there is some creepy stuff going on out there on one of the trails I went on. Nisene Marks is a very high vibrational space; the trails are a bit wonky, allowing cars on the main one, but the energy is really good. Castle Rock is very high if you can stand the bugs and the rock climbers. Saratoga Springs is really quite disgusting and that seems to be where part of San Jose dumps their gross transmedium energy; avoid it at all costs.

What unique information, or experiences, do you have about the forest?